Data analysis and poetry may seem to occupy opposite ends of the spectrum. One deals in numbers, patterns and measurable trends; the other in language, emotion and interpretation.

For data analyst and information designer Yanika Borg, however, bringing the two together offers a new way of looking at Maltese literature – one which can reveal patterns hidden between the lines while encouraging readers to return to the poetry itself.

Through In-numri tal-baħar, an exhibition forming part of the Malta Mediterranean Literature Festival, she has applied quantitative analysis to 50 poems by Anton Buttigieg and contemporary poet Elizabeth Grech, examining how the two writers use language when writing about the sea.

“I wanted to celebrate the Maltese language alongside the wider community of artists, academics, and activists already doing so, but to do it in a way I understand deeply: through data storytelling,” she tells WhosWho.mt.

Rather than attempting to quantify what a poem means, the project deliberately focuses on the words themselves.

“I wasn't interested in the meaning or intention behind the words but the words themselves: the metadata, if you will,” she explains.

Among the questions explored are which words appear most frequently, how colour is used to construct scenes, and whether blue is actually the most commonly used colour in poems centred around the sea.

It isn't.

The results are presented in aggregate, meaning individual poems are not dissected or ranked. Instead, the two poets' respective bodies of work are examined as datasets, allowing broader patterns to emerge.

For Yanika Borg, this does not reduce poetry to numbers. The intention is almost the opposite: to use data as a starting point for curiosity.

“Like any quantitative analysis, the point is to spark curiosity that sends you back to the poems themselves, to the poets' other work, and to your own reflection,” she says.

Two poets, two generations, and a changing language

The choice of Anton Buttigieg and Elizabeth Grech was deliberate. The two poets come from markedly different periods and backgrounds. Anton Buttigieg, who published between the 1940s and 1970s, was a Gozitan-born man who lived in Malta. Elizabeth Grech is a contemporary Maltese woman living abroad.

Yet nature, and particularly the sea, provides common ground.

Anton Buttigieg became known as il-poeta tan-natura – the poet of nature – while Elizabeth Grech titled her first collection bejn baħar u baħar, reflecting what Yanika Borg describes as the poet's close relationship with the sea.

“We wanted two poets whose lives differed, to see how this manifests in their work,” she says.

One of the project's findings demonstrates how even a seemingly small linguistic choice can point towards a much wider change in Maltese society. Yanika Borg found that Anton Buttigieg exclusively uses ikħal when referring to the colour blue, whereas Elizabeth Grech uses both ikħal and blu.

“It's a small detail, but it likely traces a shift in language use: ikħal is the older Semitic word for blue, slowly giving way over the decades to the more Romance blu,” she explains.

For her, this is where analysing literature through data becomes particularly interesting. The patterns can provide insights not only into the poems, but into the socio-linguistic environment surrounding their creation.

The project was developed in collaboration with Inizjamed's Leanne Ellul and Jean Paul Borg, together with curator Matthew Schembri. Yanika Borg says the team deliberately started with two poets whose work they already knew and admired, although the approach could eventually be applied to other writers or even entire literary movements.

Finding the ‘aha’ moment

The project also reflects something Yanika Borg has pursued throughout her professional career - the moment when information suddenly becomes understandable.

“Working through the analysis, I kept having these small ‘aha’ moments, flashes of understanding something new about a poem, a poet, or the world they were writing in,” she says.

“That's what I want to pass on: a small moment of joy, the same one I felt finding it.”

Yanika Borg studied mathematics and statistics in Malta before pursuing a PhD in synthetic biology in the UK. Over time, however, she realised that the element she found most compelling was not necessarily confined to a particular scientific field, but rather the process of extracting meaning from data and communicating it effectively.

She has since built a career spanning more than 15 years across consultancies, start-ups, charities and media houses, specialising in data analysis, data visualisation and data literacy.

That experience ultimately led her to establish The Data Knitters, her data analytics and storytelling practice.

“Data holds massive potential, but it only becomes useful once it's woven into insight and shared with others through data storytelling,” she says.

The name itself reflects the philosophy that individual pieces of information need to be brought together before they can tell a coherent story.

Can data visualisation be an art form?

In-numri tal-baħar also challenges the idea that data visualisation belongs exclusively in corporate reports, presentations and dashboards.

Yanika Borg argues that visualising information can itself be a compelling form of communication, capable of dealing with subjects that are personal and abstract as well as technical.

“I also want to make the case that data visualisation, so often associated with dry, uninspiring charts, can be a genuinely beautiful way to communicate,” she says.

“Data visualisation and poetry might not seem like natural bedfellows, but that's only because we haven't seen it done yet.”

That intersection also makes In-numri tal-baħar an experiment in how different disciplines can inform one another. Poetry supplies the language and imagery; quantitative analysis uncovers patterns across the work; information design translates those findings into something an audience can explore visually.

The audience, meanwhile, is not expected to remain passive. Visitors to the exhibition will be invited to contribute their own thoughts and interpretations of selected poems, bringing the subjective element of reading back into a project built around quantitative analysis.

Away from data, Yanika Borg's interests are decidedly varied. She describes herself as an avid reader and can also be found making ice cream or kayaking – another connection, perhaps, to the sea that sits at the centre of her latest project.

In-numri tal-baħar will be exhibited at Spazju Kreattiv from 25th to 30th August. Yanika Borg will present her research and findings during the exhibition launch on 26th August at 7pm, as part of a wider poetry and film night.

The 21st edition of the Malta Mediterranean Literature Festival will feature seven leading authors from six different countries: Jen Calleja (United Kingdom), Claire Lajus (France), Karl Schembri (Malta/Kenya), Keith Borg (Malta), Hamed Aboud (Syria), Rosaria Lo Russo (Italy), and Batool Abu Akleen (Palestine/France). The Festival, organised by Inizjamed, will be held between Tuesday 25th and Saturday 29th August 2026. This edition is being held in partnership with Arts Council Malta and with the support of Versopolis. The Festival is collaborating with Spazju Kreattiv and also has the support of APS Bank, Għaqda tal-Malti — Università, Istituto Italiano di Cultura di La Valletta, The Data Knitters, Merlin Publishers, Merlin Library, Notarial Archives Foundation, and Teatru Salesjan. For more information click here.